It Ends Like This
by EvilRegalOncer
Summary: As Bellatrix dies, Narcissa remembers how she used to be and finally faces what she is. Oneshot.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. If I did, Tonks and Remus and Fred would be alive.**

My heart pounds as I watch my older sister fighting fiercely against Molly Weasley. I don't know who I want to win, and that fact makes me feel like more of a turncoat than Andromeda ever was. I feel sick; Molly is a blood traitor, the very filth my sisters and I were warned against all our lives. But Bella…isn't Bella anymore, not my Bella. She is Bellatrix Lestrange; the powerful, sadistic, obsessive fanatic Death Eater. She is a monster, twisted beyond all recognition.

Suddenly Bellatrix laughs. In the span on a heartbeat, time slows to a crawl. My vision becomes razor-sharp, the gleam of light and blood on the edge of a keen blade. I see Molly's curse strike Bella on the chest. I see her eyes bulge; see the knowledge of what has happened. See her fall. Feel the world exploding around me, paralleling the explosion in my chest. _NO!_

I don't remember running or even making any sort of movement at all. I just remember finding myself on my knees by her side. She breathes deeply, eyes half-open and glazed. I reach for her, and she folds my fingers into her own. A choked sob escapes my lips as I recall the last time she held my hand.

_"Hey, Cissy, you okay?" Bella frowns at me as we sprawl on the front lawn, as we do every evening when the sun goes down. Her thick black hair spills across her shoulders and down her back; she never was one to tie it up._

_"Yes, there's no need to worry yourself." At fourteen I've already mastered the art of gracious conversation, and I'm proud of how cultured the words sound._

_"Oh, I think I'm going to puke." Andromeda whacks me on the arm with a noise of disgust, nose wrinkling. "You sound like some bloody Victorian."_

_"C'mon, out with it, or I swear Andy and I will tickle you to death." And then she flashes me that grin that I love so much: The devilish, convention be damned, wild, raucous, 'why should I care' look that makes her Bellatrix._

_I sit up, drawing my knees to my chest. Despite the summer breeze, I feel cold. "I just feel like….things are changing. We're growing up, and you're engaged, Bella. I don't want to lose this."_

_"Hey." Bella moves closer and takes my hand, giving it a soft but firm squeeze. "You think I'd ever leave you with Andy? You two would tear each other to pieces, not to mention you'd drive her to insanity."_

_"Oh, it's so true," Andromeda cries, laughing as she throws her arms around me. "Honestly, Cissy, you worry too much. We'll always be the Black sisters; that won't ever change. Okay?"_

_Something of my fear must still show, because Bella slowly wraps us both in a hug. "Dromie is right. I'll always be here for you—both of you." She rests her head on top of Andromeda's. "Nobody will _ever_ hurt my kid sisters if I have any say in it."_

"Cissy."

Bella's voice draws me from my memory. She is panting, eyes burning.

"Bella, I'm here." I can't stop myself from stroking her hair away from her eyes. "I'm here."

"Cissy, the Dark Lord will be victorious….and he will remember that I…..I was his most faithful." She smiles, a ghost of the look I saw when we were still the formidable Black Sisters Three. "Take care of yourself…." Her eyes close, head falling to the side. Her fingers relax and drop mine.

Tears stream down my face, but I do not grieve for what has just happened. My grief is for three young girls who long ago made a vow of sisterhood and love, not realizing that one day they would be torn apart forever. I cry for a wild hellion with black hair and a devilish grin whose love was turned into obsession that turned to insanity; for a beautiful brunette who sacrificed everything to do what was right and got cruelly punished anyways; for a blonde who never realized that blood purity comes in second to loyalty and who was too blind to see the monster evolving in front of her.

But more than all of that, I mourn for the sister who died long ago, my Bella, my protector. The woman whose life drained away in my arms just now is a stranger.


End file.
